


Eat. Chuckle. Breathe.

by xlittlemissashx



Series: Itsy Bitsy Drabbles [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Family, Fluff, Gen, Movie Night, No Angst, So I'm giving him one, Tony Deserves a Break, Tony Stark Has A Heart
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-27
Updated: 2019-03-27
Packaged: 2019-12-18 17:27:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,335
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18254474
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xlittlemissashx/pseuds/xlittlemissashx
Summary: Tony, Nat, and Carol are Fury's favourite super-children, and after defeating Thanos they deserve some nice family bonding time - with Uncle-Agent Coulson too of course!





	Eat. Chuckle. Breathe.

**Author's Note:**

> You will find nothing but fluffy, self-indulgent fic here.

“You don’t eat toast if it’s cut diagonally? How did I not know this?” Tony cackled at this new revelation about Fury, leaning into Carol to hold himself up while he shook with laughter.

“Yeah, yeah, laugh it up,” Fury rolled his eyes, but the small upturn of his lips let them know he didn’t mind their amusement at his expense. 

Natasha pushed her plate forward, so she could rest her elbows on the table, placing her chin on her hands. A small smile also graced her features as she tilted her head to look at Fury. “So, what is it exactly about diagonal toast that makes you fear it? Is it the shape? In which case are you also afraid of other triangular things?”

“I do not have a _fear_ of diagonally-cut toast, first of all,” Fury began, as Tony and Carol dissolved into another bout of laughter at Natasha’s questions. “And secondly, anymore comments on this topic and I’m disowning all of you.”

Carol gave an exaggerated gasp. “You wouldn’t dare!” Tony was still chuckling into her shoulder, but tilted his head up to whisper conspiratorially, loud enough for Nat and Fury to hear, “Don’t worry, he talks a big talk, but he knows he won’t be able to live without the family secret marinara sauce that I make.”

Both Nat and Carol nodded sagely in agreement while Fury held a cold stare for all of five seconds before he shrugged and acquiesced as well. “You’re not wrong,” Fury agreed, standing up and beginning to gather their now empty dinner plates that held pasta with the aforementioned marinara sauce. Carol stood up to help as well and soon they were heading into the kitchen bickering good-naturedly as they went.

Tony leaned back into his chair, closing his eyes and patting his stomach contentedly. It had been a good evening. It was weird to think it was only a month since they defeated Thanos and returned the universe to its natural order; It felt like a lifetime since then. Even after things had been restored, there was still a lot of damage control to be done – damaged property from the snap was still being restored even five years later, the Maria Stark Foundation was working overtime to help provide relief as well as psychological support around the globe, and of course there was some political soothing to be done. Between clean up, Stark Industries, the government, and Avenging (because that didn’t stop even when the world was still trying to recover), the month had been a long one for Tony and this was the first break he had gotten in ages.

Tony heard Natasha push her chair back to stand. Knowing it was deliberate, because Nat always moved like an assassin – silent and deadly – Tony opened his eyes and looked up at her.

“Should we pick out a movie?” Nat asked, tilting her head towards the family room. Tony nodded, getting up and stretching on his tip toes with his arms above his head, before padding on bare feet after her.

“Mindless classic or one of the new ones?” Nat asked once Tony settled on the couch next to her. Tony leaned into her space, watching as she swiped through the holographic interface for movies.

“Mindless classic please…” Tony’s sentence drifted into a hum as Natasha reached up to run her fingers through his hair. Tony had missed this over the five years he had been gone. Human contact in general was missed while he drifted in space, and while he and Nebula had gotten along great, this easy contact developed through years of knowing someone was sorely lacking.

Tony had been worried about his relationship with Natasha. They had both said hurtful things the last time they had seen each other, years of friendship letting them know exactly where to poke, and honestly, he didn’t think he would ever get this back. When Natasha sought him out as soon as the final battle was over and immediately threw her arms around him, burying silent tears into his neck, he knew they would be okay. They had been working side-by-side, Nat acting as the PA she once was to help him and Pepper sort out the mess left behind, and they were falling back into their easy friendship in no time.

“I hope you guys left some pasta for me,” a voice called from the hallway, getting closer.

“Agent!”

“Phil!”

“Coulson.”

There was a brief silence and then they were all chuckling – or breaking down with laughter in Carol and Tony’s case – at how perfectly their greetings lined up. Phil held up a bag from their favourite bakery, bringing dessert for the family which got him cheers all around. Fury took the bag to put everyone’s preferred cupcakes on individual plates while Phil accepted a hug from Carol and walked over to give Nat a kiss on the head and Tony a squeeze on the shoulder. Tony looked up at the man, giving him an exaggerated pout at which Phil chuckled and leaned down to give Tony a kiss on the forehead as well.

Tony grinned and patted his hand, “Come have a seat, we’re watching…” Tony trailed off looking towards Nat.

“It’s a surprise,” she said simply, pushing the holo-screen towards the bigger media screen, the production company logo at a standstill.

“Huh, don’t think I’ve ever heard of that one,” Phil joked, to which Nat pinned him with an unimpressed stare, and he sat down on one of the recliners.

“Chop, chop, in the kitchen!” Tony called out. “The baking’s already been done for us so what’s the hold up?”

“Careful, I have the power to drop your share if I so choose,” Carol said as she came around, holding Tony’s plate precariously on her index finger. Tony’s eyes widened, staring at his plate as if he could will it not to fall as Carol bounced around jokingly, pretending to nearly drop it and catch it multiple times on her way over to Tony.

“Care Bear please, what have I ever done but love you, hm?” Tony pleaded. Carol laughed lightly at the nickname and safely deposited the plate into Tony’s lap. Tony heaved out a sigh of relief, sitting up straight to eat his dessert. Carol also gave Nat her plate, while Fury deposited dinner into Agent’s lap before heading to the loveseat to claim it for himself. Carol sat down on the same couch as Tony and Nat, kicking up her feet into Tony’s lap to get comfortable before digging in to her own dessert.

Once everyone was settled, Nat began the movie. It turned out she had picked the first Jurassic Park and Tony mentally applauded her choice of mindless classic. The lights went low and everyone began digging into their desserts, or dinner in Phil’s case. Soon the plates were cleared, and everyone got even more comfortable. Tony leaning into Nat once again, kicking his feet up beside him while she ran her fingers through his hair. Carol’s legs tangled with his and she settle down, covering herself in one of the available throws. Fury stretched out along the loveseat, and Phil brought the recliner up and out, covering up with a throw as well. Conversation happened on-and-off throughout the movie which is exactly why Tony had wanted a mindless classic – it was something they had all watched several times before, so they were free to interact and joke around as they pleased.

Five years ago, coming back to this didn’t seem possible. Tony could admit now that he was on his last leg, not sure if he would be able to make a final stand – but he did. With the help of his teammates, both former and current, they were all able to set the world right again. Being here right now, with his little makeshift family as his eyes drifted closed to bickering and laughter, he had to say it definitely made the struggle worth it.

**Author's Note:**

> It's been a while and I have no excuses other than being tired and sad. But I saw a tweet and I was suddenly inspired to here were are. Also, I'm throwing this up at 3AM right after I finished writing it so no editing has been done - Let me know if there's any glaring errors. Hope you enjoyed it!


End file.
